Liquid control valve



Patented Apr. 14, 1953 LIQUID CONTROL VALVE Howard H. Hobbs, Tipton,Ind., assignor to The Oakes Manufacturing Company, Tipton, Ind.,

a corporation Application June 9, 1949, Serial No. 98,113

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a liquid control valve of the characterwherein the valve is automatically closed through the weight of a chargeof liquid received by a container operatively associated with the valve,being particularly designed for use in connection with poultry waterersand the like.

It is the object of the invention to control the iiow of liquid into acontainer by a two way valve adapted to close under liquid pressure whennot in use and be selectively and manually latched to open position whena container is operatively mounted to receive liquid, the latch beingautomatically released after the container has re ceived sufficientliquid to maintain the valve in open position and until a predeterminedcharge of liquid is received suiciently to cause its weight to close thevalve.

The feature of the invention resides in the provision of a reciprocatinglatch mounted to slide upon the valve structure in position to engage ashoulder of the valve control lever and retain it is valve openingposition against liquid pressure tending to close the valve, but whichwill drop by gravity upon movement of the lever under the weight of theinitial charge of liquid received therein to release the lever forpermitting it to be moved to valve closing position upon the containerreceiving the full charge of liquid of a predetermined weight.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawings and the ollowing description and claims:

Fig. l is a central vertical section through the valve showing thecontrol lever and latch in elevation free of latching engagement.

Fig. 2 is the same as Fig. 1 showing the latch and lever in latchedposition.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the valve in closed positionunder the weight of a charge of liquid.

In the drawings there is shown a valve housing I having threadedengagement with a fixed downwardly extending liquid supply pipe II. Saidhousing is provided with an upper valve seat I2 and a lower valve seatI3 connected by an orifice I4. The double acting valve is provided withan upper valve head I5 for sealing engagement with the valve seat I2under the influence of the liquid pressure exerted downwardly thereontogether with the weight of the valve. A valve stem I6 extending throughthe oriiice I4 supports the upper valve head I5 in spaced relation to alower valve head I'I adapted to engage and seal the lower valve seat I3when upward force is exerted thereagainst. The relation of the upper andlower valve heads to their respective valve seats is such that when thevalve is in an intermediate position free of engagement with eithervalve seat fluid may now past the valve heads and through the oriiiceI4.

Secured to the valve housing I0 and depending therefrom there is asleeve I8 provided with a laterally extending bracket I9, the lower endof the sleeve being slotted at 20 adjacent said bracket and immediatelybelow the lower valve head Il. A valve control lever 2l is fulcrumed tothe bracket I9 at 22 through the pivotal connection therewith of anupwardly extending portion 23. The lever is provided with a valveactuating nose 24 extending through the slot 20 in the sleeve forengagement with the under surface of the valve head I'I. Said lever isprovided with a series of spaced openings 25 on the other side of itsfulcrum 22 from that of the nose 24. Connected with one of said openingsthere is a load spring 26 suspended by the adjusting screw 21 from theupper end of the bracket I9. At the far end of the leverthere areprovided a series of notches 28 for receiving a bail 29 of a wateringpan 30 for supporting one end of the Watering pan, the opposite end ofwhich rests on the ground.

Slidably mounted on the portion 23 of the lever there is a latch bar 3Ihaving an elongated slot embracing the fulcrum mounting 22 of saidlever; The lower end of the latch bar is formed with a laterallyextending ear 32 which projects through a vertical slot 33 as a guidefor the lower end thereof. At that point of the lever extending acrossthe slot 33 there is an elongated opening 34 having a shouldered portion35 with which the ear 32 is adapted to engage when the latch bar is inits uppermost position. With the ear of the latch bar engaged betweenthe shoulder 35 and the side of the slot 33 of the bracket, the lever 2|will be latched against the tension of the load spring 26 to retain itin a predetermined position.

In operation, with the pan 30 removed and the latch bar in its lowermostposition, no upward pressure is exerted by the nose 24 against the lowervalve head I'I. Therefore, the water pressure exerted downwardly againstthe valve head I5 will seat the valve and prevent iiow of liquid fromthe pipe II. In this position, as shown in Fig. l, the valve remainsclosed. Thus a container may be suspended from the lever without openingthe valve which may thereafter be manually set to open position topermit water to pass into the container. Thus while the container may beset in position or adjusted on the es lever, it does not necessarilymean that the valve will be opened and water introduced into thecontainer until such time as it may be desired to ll it. When it isdesired to open the valve, a container being positioned under the sleeveI8 with its bail supported on the far end of the lever, the lever ispushed downward sufliciently to permit manual raising of the latch bar3l until the ear 32 locks with the latch shoulder 35 against the tensionof the load spring 25. In this position, as shown in Fig. 2, the valveis held open by the nose 2li of the lever` which raises the upper valvehead I5 from its seat, but not far enoughv to seat the lower valve head;

In this position, liquid will ow into the container until the weightthereof is such as to lower the far end of the lever against tension ofthe load spring 26 to swing the latch shoulder 35 free of the latchingear 32. rlhereupon, the latch bar will drop to itslowermost positionwith its ear 32 extending in the arcuate opening 34.01. the lever. Whena predetermined charge ofV liquid has been received, its weight, inopposition to the load spring 25, will swing the nose 2d of the leverupwardly sufficient to force the lower valve head il into its valveclosing position. Liquid will therebybe prevented from owing into thecontainer Iuntil suilcient fluid is used to reduce the Vweight whichwill permit a slight dropping' of the nose and lower the valve head toallow only suincient ow of liquid to replace that used, bringing -thecharge vof liquid back to its valve closing weight. Upon removal of thecontainer from the lever, it will be freed so that the valve willautomatically close through downward huid pressure on the upper valvehead i5.

The invention claimed is:

l. In a liquid control valve having a vertically slotted valve housingprovided with two spaced valve seats and opposed interconnected valveheads simultaneously movable to valve open position and alternately tovalve closing position, a valve control lever fulcrumed adjacent oneside of said housing having a valve actuating end portion engageablewith one of said valve heads, said lever being provided with anelongated slot one wall of said slot being recessed to provide ashoulder, and a load spring suspending the oppositeportion of said leverfrom said housing, the combination therewith of a latch member havingan-elongated slot for slidably supporting 'and guiding its movementrelative to the fulcrum of said lever, and a latching ear on the lowerend of said member extending through the slot of said lever in bearingand guiding relation to a vertically extending slot in said housing forinterlocking engagement between said housing and the said shoulder ofsaid lever for latching said lever in valve open position under tensionof said load spring, said latch member being releasable to drop tounlatched position upon said spring pressure being overcome by apredetermined load.

2. In a liquid control valve having a valve housing provided with twospaced valve seats and opposed interconnected valve heads simultaneouslymovable to valve open position and alternately to valve closingposition, said housing being provided with a slot below and adjacent thelower end of one of said valve heads, and a laterally extending bracketon said housing the combination therewith of, a valve control leverfulcrumed on said bracket to extend through saidslot with one endthereof in valve engaging position, saidv lever having an elongated slotimmediately lbelow its fulcrum extending transversely and in overlappingrelation with a vertically extending slot in said bracket, the upperwall of said elongated slot being shouldered, a load spring connectingsaid lever with said bracket on the opposite side of its fulcrum fromits valve engaging end, a latch member slidably mounted on said lever atits fulcrum having a latching ear on the lower end thereof extendingthrough the slots of said lever and bracket manually slidably upwardlyinto latching engagew ment with the shouldered portion of the lever slotfor locking said lever in valve opening position against the'tension ofsaid load spring, said latch being adapted t0 drop by gravity todisengage said shoulder and permit free movement of said lever upon thetension of said load spring being overcome by a predetermined load.

3. In a liquid control valve having a valve housing provided withopposed interconnected valve heads simultaneously movable to valveopening position and alternately to valve closing position, said housingbeing provided with an elongated vertical slot, the combinationtherewith of a valve control lever fulcrumed on said housing above saidslot with one end thereof in valve engaging position, a shoulder on saidlever formed on one wall of an elongated transverse slot immediatelybelow its fulcrum and in overlapping relation with said elongatedvertical slot, a load spring connecting said lever with said housing onthe opposite side of its fulcrum from its valve engagingv end, and alatch member mounted adjacent the fulcrum of said lever having alatching ear extending through the slots of said lever and housingengageable with .said shoulder for locking said lever in valve openingposition against tension of said load spring, said latch member beingbiased to move from its locking engagement to permit free movement ofsaid lever upon the tension of said load spring being overcome by apredetermined load.

4. A latch for a liquid control valve including a valve seat and `valvehead therefor, in combination, a housing for said valve seat and head, avalve control lever fulcrumed on said housing with one end thereof invalve engaging position, a shoulder on said lever formed on one wall ofa slot therein, said housing being provided with a slot in overlappingrelation 'with said shouldered slot, a load spring connecting saidvlever with said housing on the opposite side Vof its fulcrum from itsvalve engaging end, and a latch member mounted on said housing having alatching ear extending through said overlapping slots engageable withsaid shoulder for interlocking said lever and housing in valve openingposition against the tension of said load spring, said latch memberbeing biased to move .from its engagement with said shoulder to permitfree movement of said lever upon the tension of said load spring beingovercome by a predetermined load.

HOWARD H. HOBBS.

References cited in the sie of this patent UNITED STATES PATaNTs NumberrName Date 1,415,178 Imschweiler May 9, 1922 1,653,525 White Dec. 20,v192'7 1,753,122 Kielsmeier Apr. 1, .1930 2,278,655 James Apr. '7, 19422,512,839 Pruitt June 27, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country IJate i

